Japan calls China’s seizure of ship to settle WWII claims regrettable

Japan today called regrettable China's seizure of a vessel belonging to  Mitsui OSK Lines last week for what China described as unpaid compensation relating to a wartime contract.

Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference, that the court enforcement might have "fundamentally shaken the spirit of diplomatic normalization" enshrined in a joint communique by Japan and China in 1972, suggesting that the right of Chinese individuals to wartime compensation had been renounced under the bilateral accord.

According to the top government spokesman, the seizure on Saturday, of the Mitsui container ship was "extremely regrettable and could intimidate Japanese firms operating in China."

He acknowledged that Tokyo was seeking relevant information from the Chinese government through diplomatic channels.

Suga further added that the Japanese government would cooperate with Mitsui in responding to the situation.

On the ther hand, the Shanghai Maritime Court said that if Mitsui failed to honour its legal obligations, it would dispose of the ship in accordance with the law.

Tokyo-based Mitsui was obliged, according to the court, for payment of compensation to a Chinese family over a contract made by its predecessor in 1936 for renting two ships from a Chinese firm, which were later requisitioned by the Japanese military.

The large freight vessel had been seized by authorities in a dispute over what according to the Chinese were unpaid bills relating to the 1930s, when Japan occupied large parts of China.

The move points to the bitter enmity at the heart of Tokyo-Beijing ties, as the two sides remain locked in a stand-off over the ownership of a small archipelago and bickering over differing interpretations of history.

The Shanghai Maritime Court said it had seized the vessel Baosteel Emotion owned by Mitsui OSK Lines for enforcement of an effective judgment made in December 2007.

According to Chinese and Hong Kong media the seizure related to a verdict by a court in Shanghai that said Mitsui had to pay about $30 million regarding the leasing of two ships nearly 80 years ago.

Reports said in 1936, Daido Shipping Co, Mitsui's predecessor had rented two ships on a one-year contract from Zhongwei Shipping Co.

The ships were however, commandeered by the Imperial Japanese Navy, and were sunk during World War II, reports said.

A compensation suit was brought against Mitsui by the descendants of the founder of Zhongwei Shipping Co and in 2007 a Shanghai court ordered Mitsui to pay about $30 million in compensation.